The Office Spin-Off: Cast, Setting, and Everything Else to Know About the New Series

As Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) once said, identity theft is not a joke. But if a TV show borrows the identity of a show we already like, who are we to argue? A new comedy inspired by The Office is in the works at Peacock, and it's in good hands: Greg Daniels, who adapted The Office for American audiences, is on board as co-creator.

The new series will be a mockumentary set in the same universe as The Office, but it's not a reboot or a revival. It's more like a spin-off, though it won't follow a character from the original series. The show will focus on a new cast of characters working a different job in a city that's not Scranton — and we already have some details on what kind of work this office does. 

Here's everything we know so far about who's been cast in the new spin-off of The Office and what it's about. We'll update this post with the latest information as it's announced.

More on The Office:

• The 50 best episodes of The Office, ranked
• The 40 best guest stars on The Office, ranked
• More shows like The Office to watch if you miss The Office
• The best shows on Peacock

The Office spin-off cast

Domhnall Gleeson (The Patient) and Sabrina Impacciatore (The White Lotus) will star in the new series set in the same universe as The Office, leading an ensemble cast. Details about their characters have not been announced. Deadline reported on May 8 that casting is underway for the rest of the office staff, including one more potential series lead.

The Office spin-off setting

You could say the team behind The Office is staying in the paper business — but this time it's newspaper. Peacock has released a description of the spin-off series, per Deadline, and it teases that the same documentary crew who filmed Dunder Mifflin's Scranton branch have found their next subject: "a dying historic Midwestern newspaper and the publisher trying to revive it with volunteer reporters." They're sticking with the mockumentary format, but the struggle to keep local journalism alive is a far cry from the drudgery of selling paper, which should give the follow-up series a different flavor from either the NBC comedy or the BBC comedy that inspired it.

Who's behind the series

Greg Daniels and Michael Koman are co-creating and executive producing the spin-off series. Daniels developed the American adaptation of The Office — based on the U.K. original by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. He also co-created Parks and Recreation and King of the Hill and created Prime Video's Upload, among other credits. Koman's credits include writing for Late Night with Conan O'Brien and co-creating Nathan for You.

Will the cast of The Office appear in the spin-off?

While the new series is set in the same world as The Office, it follows new characters working in a different industry. And while it's too soon to say for sure that no one familiar will ever pop up in the spin-off (we know how TV works!), at least one significant actor from the NBC series has already ruled out an appearance. On May 13, Steve Carell told The Hollywood Reporter that he won't be showing up in the spin-off. "It's just a new thing, and there's really no reason for my character to show up," he said.

Carell, who starred in The Office as Michael Scott, added that he will be watching the new series, calling the newspaper angle a "great conceit." He also praised Domhnall Gleeson, whom he worked with in FX's The Patient.

Stephen Merchant, who co-created the original BBC version of The Office, has weighed in on the spin-off news, too. Speaking to Deadline on May 12, Merchant said he liked the idea that the new series takes place in the world of the original but not in the same office. "I just hope that they represent what office life must be like now," Merchant said, joking that the new show could "just be on Zoom."

Production updates

Production on the new series is scheduled to begin in July, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

How to watch The Office

NBC's The Office is available to stream on Peacock. The spin-off series will also be a Peacock exclusive, so if you're a fan of The Office, you know what you have to do.